Prelude and Fugue
by Chibizoo
Summary: A different spinoff of the events before and after Yuugi obtained the Millennium Puzzle. For rarely is anything what we wish it could be.


Author's notes:  
  
Disclaimer: . I do not own Yu-gi-oh.  
  
Yup - I'm back for a quick little one shot fic par request from Cloud 1-3- 5's nice e-mail. Dedicated to all those who suffer the same disease I do - the reality crisis. What if our lives weren't so?  
  
Warnings: None. You just need half a brain.  
  
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Prelude and Fugue  
  
The once-nameless Pharaoh looked down at the slender necklace dangling from his tanned fingers. He lifted the object into the air, watching the light play off the words engraved in the once-blank cartouche pendant.  
  
"My name is."  
  
He read the hieroglyphs carefully, not a bit nervous under the fascinated stares of those around him. This was it; this was the final moment, the secret they had all been searching for. After countless battles and losses he finally had in his hands the single most important thing to him.  
  
".."  
  
*********************************************  
  
The alarm clock went off with a shrill bang. Continuous beeping followed, escalating into an infinitely annoying chorus of shrieks.  
  
Yuugi groaned and extracted one arm from his mess of bedsheets, hand blindly probing the bedstand surface before grabbing the alarm clock and pressing the round snooze button on top of it.  
  
Five more minutes. Just five more minutes.  
  
The small youth stuffed the pillow over his head, trying to ignore the sunlight filtering from between the thick window drapes. No such luck.  
  
With a final irate moan, he shoved himself out of his bed and shifted his weight, toes barely touching the cold floorboard.  
  
Another day, another routinely schedule, another week of the same thing over and over again.  
  
He methodically trekked towards the washroom, moved his fingers towards where he knew his toothbrush was, and turned on the tapwater at exactly the right angle to ensure that the water was somewhat lukewarm.  
  
The uniform, then breakfast and then a slow walk towards school.  
  
It was always the same after all.  
  
********************************************  
  
His head slammed painfully against the locker. Starbursts filled his vision, causing involuntary tears to form in his eyes as he vainly tried to blink the pain away.  
  
A set of raucous laughs greeted his ears. "That's what you get for not being a man, Yuugi." The blonde-haired teen slammed his foot against Yuugi's back again, causing the smaller boy to fall towards the ground like a rumpled sack of potatoes.  
  
Slowly, trance-like, Yuugi picked himself up from the ground and faced the other, head bowed. "H-hai. Jounochi. san[1]."  
  
The blonde laughed away the formalities and sneered, delivering a quick punch into the boy's abdomen. He watched Yuugi crumple against the ground once more, keen brown eyes filled with power while his face struggled to keep its serious composure. "Do you know why we do this to you?" Another kick at Yuugi's side, even while the boy still struggled to stand up.  
  
The small boy hastily wiped the blood trickling down his chin. "Because you are teaching me how to be stronger."  
  
Jounochi laughed and let his friend Honda have a turn in beating Yuugi. "Yes. Because we want to protect you, Yuugi."  
  
********************************************  
  
She gently pressed her finger against the bandage to make sure it stayed on Yuugi's arm. A little sigh escaped her mouth. "Honestly Yuugi, I don't know why you put up with them. They're so immature and it's obvious that they just want to bully you."  
  
He looked down, amethyst eyes suddenly fascinated at the tiles on the ground. "It's okay, Anzu. Even though they might hurt me, they've always been my friends and-"  
  
"-Friends?" Mazaki Anzu shrieked. "Do you even know what friendship means?"  
  
Silence ensued. Yuugi looked outside the window. He could see Jounochi and Honda playing basketball outside.  
  
**************************************************  
  
"I'm back."  
  
Slowly, he shrugged off his backback and plodded up the stairs, making sure that he didn't lean on his right leg too much. He had to delay eating his lunch a bit longer, seeing that his split lip hadn't healed quite yet.  
  
A few moments later, Yuugi was back inside the sanctuary of his own room. His amethyst eyes roamed around the small space until it fell upon a glittering object dangling by his bedstand. It was a strange pyramid-shaped relic, pure gold in hue. A single engraved eye protruded dully from one of its facets.  
  
Yuugi sighed and propped himself against the bedstand, body half- curled on the bed. He smiled and pressed his fingers against the golden- hued relic, enjoying the metallic-cold touch. The relic, this Puzzle, had been with him ever since his grandfather gave it to him on his fourteenth birthday. It had been two years now, and things had not changed one bit.  
  
"You know, I dreamt about you again." The small boy gazed at the eye engraving on the Puzzle. Talking to it had been a routine since his grandfather's death; something that he had found very hard to break out of. "You came from Egypt right? And Grandpa said you were old." Yuugi smiled slightly. "Maybe you even belonged to a Pharaoh."  
  
The Puzzle remained as stoic as ever, twirling slightly as Yuugi curled his fingers around the string it dangled from.  
  
"Grandpa said that if I solved you, you'd be able to grant any wish I desired." The small boy chuckled slightly to himself. "And yet, what dreams may come will come. I guess it's my destiny to be where I am."  
  
And yet, Yuugi wished. what did he wish? That he would be whisked away to some magical, fantastic adventure like the dreams his vivid imagination created? That the bleak life around him would somehow change and disappear to mould perfectly with his own desires?  
  
There was a brief thud that resonated against the walls. Yuugi jerked his head up in recognition to the sound and disassembled himself from the bed. "It looks like mom's home again." He smiled his trademark smile, neither sad nor happy but just ever present. "I'm going to go help her with the shop. Anyway, wish me good luck on tomorrow's test!"  
  
The door to the room slammed shut, but otherwise, there could have been no other change in room itself. The Puzzle, there since two years ago, did not change one bit as it hang lifelessly from the bedstand.  
  
Fin  
  
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End notes:  
  
[1] -san. Denotes addressing someone older/someone you respect.  
  
I have issues between the bedstand and nightstand. Hopefully, I have the correct word ^^; 


End file.
